Facebook Follows Apple’s Lead, Jumps Into Original, Reality TV Programming

What is with all these tech companies getting into producing reality-TV shows? Hot off the announcements that Apple is making an original, Shark Tank-esque reality show (not to mention expanding James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke into a standalone show), Facebook is now making a reality-TV competition of its own.

The new show, titled Last State Standing, will put 50 competitors representing their respective states in a series of games to win $50,000, per THR. Hopefully, some of the games will require an intimate knowledge of Rhode Island state history, because otherwise the 17 people there are never going to offer a champion. The show itself was created by American Ninja Warrior producers A. Smith and Co.’s Arthur Smith, so maybe contestants will also flirt with severe bodily harm.

The forthcoming series—alongside a previously announced revival of the poorly received MTV show Loosely Exactly Nicole—is expected to kick off Facebook’s new video “ecosystem.” Programming will be divided into short form digital one-offs like Buzzfeed videos and television-quality “hero” projects. These shows, once finished, will be shown for free to Facebook’s almost two billion viewers. It’s sort of sad they’re starting with these two shows instead of, say, a Breaking Bad reboot or something.

There’s no information on when the show will actually air or what kind of episode count we’re looking at, but it has reportedly already started shooting in Los Angeles, which seems unfair in favor of Californians. The show should exclusively take place in international waters or Canada if it is to be truly fair.